I feel like I write about this every year, but once again â€œProject Runwayâ€ contestants are making asses of themselves when forced to dress someone who isnâ€™t a model.

Actually, this season it was really just one designer who was being a brat: Ven, whose two previous wins assured he would not be kicked off this episode even though he deserved it. Even Gunnar Deatherage, whoâ€™s been exceedingly bratty in every episode so far, fully embraced his client, including hugging her and acting truly excited to be working with a regular person.

Ven started by bashing his poor client, Terri, to the cameras, saying he thought it was unfair that he got a plus-size client while some of the other designers got thinner women, and that he was â€œin shockâ€ when he first saw her. He then told Tim Gunn that Terri had â€œno shape,â€ â€œno style whatsoeverâ€ (isnâ€™t that what heâ€™s supposed to help her with? Itâ€™s a make-over challenge!), and then laughed and said she was probably a size 14 when Tim asked (as if thatâ€™s so gargantuanâ€¦I was glad to see Tim point out that 14 is not really â€œplus-sizeâ€).

As if that werenâ€™t bad enough, Ven then made all sorts of passive-aggressive insults to Terriâ€™s face, like saying he chose black because itâ€™s slimming, and making a big deal that the belts he picked out were too small for her. The poor woman actually ended up crying, and later her friend who had nominated her cried on the runway too, because the friend thought the experience would make Terri feel good about herself and instead it made her feel terrible.

Oh, and the outfit Ven created? Unlike the other designers, he paid no attention to Terriâ€™s life or story, so he designed something completely inappropriate for her needs. He made a plain black pencil skirt out of stiff fabric that would have wrinkled horribly during her two-hour drive to work. Then he paired it with a cheap-looking neon blue silky blouse that had baggy sleeves and no structure whatsoeverâ€”such lazy workmanship! And the two pieces did not go together at all.

Thank goodness the judges werenâ€™t being complete idiots for a change. They all thought Venâ€™s work was abysmal and he was the last person to be called safe. They also mocked him for saying heâ€™d never designed for a â€œrealâ€ woman (so what are models, then? Not human?).

I was really hoping for a double-elimination after Heidi Klum said â€œoneâ€”or moreâ€”of you will be going homeâ€ multiple times, but no such luck. At the very least, it was gratifying that all the judges and other contestants were horrified by Venâ€™s ridiculous behavior.

The client is beautiful, and if Ven can’t design something beautiful for her then he’s a failure as a designer.August 31, 2012 | 4 Comments

4 Comments on Off the Rack ~ Project Runway’s Plus Size Problem

Amen to that. I’ve seen other photos of Terri in related articles, and she is *gorgeous*. But on the show she was so horrified that she rarely smiled… poor thing. I can’t wait for Ven to go home. As far as I’m concerned, his career is over. I can’t imagine wanting to wear something he makes after the obnoxious way he treated his client.

Wow, what disgusting behaviourâ€”and I was struck by how pretty the woman is! She is beautiful! I’ve never seen the showâ€”drama is not my thingâ€”but goodness. There is no excuse for treating anyone this way. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been slowly cutting ties to someone who, because of their education (which is fantastic!), looks down upon those without something similar and with different tastes as lesser forms of human beings, if human at all. People like this really need a reality checkâ€”to say nothing of a little mercy and grace to dispense to others. I hope Ven goes home too! Yeeesh.

My husband and I were watching that episode and were appalled. Yes, it can be over whelming working with a body type you are not used to (even trying to alter to my own shape was overwhelming at first because it’s so different from the Big 4 brand patterns) but there is no reason you can’t take a breath and dive in and do a good job.
It almost seemed like he didn’t know how to handle multiple darts, or large darts to create a tailored top and just created a drapey top to avoid them all (but he created a fitted bodice the week before…). The skirt was his last ditch effort to make an interesting detail, but I think creating a slit through a zipper would be uncomfortable (the teeth).
I did like her hair at least- I missed the beginning but I’m assuming he didn’t have much of a say in it.

I know these episodes happen in every season, but yeah, this one irked me and especially made me want to vomit. I loved how, even for reality TV, Gunnar seemed sincere and excited about how he wanted to be a high fashion designer who made clothes for “real” people. I get the point that models are “real” as in human, but we all know that models are picked because they are the least human-like humans, and I love that there are designers who want to do the high fashion editorial stuff that requires models, and yet they really want to do it for regular ol’ folks.

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